Board presents draft charge to P&PC

PARIS — A draft charge for the town's Policy and Procedures Committee was announced by the board of selectmen during its meeting Monday.

The charge issue has been a stumbling block between the board and P&PC since mid-September.

Board Chair Sam Elliot said he hoped P&PC Chair Jack Richardson would be able to tell the board what the committee did not like about its charge.

Richardson replied that, for as long as he had been on the committee, it had never had a charge. "That's why I asked the question," he said.

According to minutes from a 2008 P&PC meeting, former Town Manager Sharon Jackson told the committee its purpose was to review and update existing policies and ordinances as needed and draft new as requested by selectmen.

According to Vice-Chair Bob Kirchherr the old charge "lacks clarity." 

A more detailed charge, drafted by Kirchherr, directs the P&PC to review ordinances and policies for grammar, organization and consistency with other town and state statutes as well as to draw up new ordinances and policies as requested by selectmen.

The draft charge also directs the committee to review policies and ordinances for "suitability, to ensure they are consistent with the needs of citizens."

Kirchherr asked Richardson to review the charge and make sure it clarified the board's expectations.

Elliot suggested the board postpone updating the charge until committee members explained "what it is about this charge you find so difficult."

As way of explanation, Richardson asked the board to imagine it didn't have a committee but wanted one.

"That's the question I'm asking you right now; do you think you have a need for a policy and procedures committee to exist ... and if you want it to exist, what do you want it to do?"

The board voted unanimously to give the draft charge to the P&PC for review. Richardson said the committee would look over the document at its November meeting.

The charge issue has been a bone of contention between the board and P&PC for over a month.

In mid-September, P&PC Chairman Jack Richardson sent a letter to selectmen requesting the board give the committee a clear, formal charge or disband it.

The request came following a heated exchange between Richardson, Selectman Gerald Kilgore and Elliot, over revisions the committee made to the town's traffic ordinances.

In a mid-September meeting Elliot sharply criticized the town's recently updated vehicle weight restriction ordinance.

Earlier this month, P&PC member Anne Stanley told selectmen the committee had stopped meeting until it received further direction from the board.